Garter



R. W. MERRITT.

GARTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, me.

Patented Nov. 15, 192i.

HNVENTdR Raow flmrfi ATTORNEY barren ROBERT W. IIIEBRITI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

' eanrnn.

Application filed July 25, 1919. Serial No. 313,182.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lilonnnr N. dnnnirr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of few York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements ina Garter, of which the following is a. full, clear, and exactspecilication.

This invention relates more particularly to a class of devices adapted to be used in conjunction with persons stockings.

My invention has for its object primarily to provide a garter adapted to be employed -for supporting stockings in their proper positions when worn by persons by serving to prevent the tops of the stockings from accidentally lowering on the legs or the wearer. This is accomplished mainly by providi g an adjustable flexible strap on one end portion of a flexible strip so that by niovably guiding the second end portion of the strip through the strap a loop of various dimensions may be formed in the central part of the strip to allow the loop to be removably arranged around the leg of the wearer as well as permitting the loop to be enlarged and reduced in size to accommodate legs of different circumferences, and on the free ends of the strip may be provided catches for detachably vfastening the garter to the stockings.

A "further object of the invention is to provide a garter of a simple and e'liicient form and which may be made off any suitable material in any desired size.

With these and other obj ects in View, the invention will be hereinalter more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and will then be pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawing, Figure l is a lragmentary View showing one form oi garter embodying my invention as employed when holding a stocking on the leg of a person.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the end portions of the garter.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4c is an enlarged fragmentary View showing part of the strip of the garter with a retaining device to allow the garter to be removably attached to a garment of the wearer.

The garter has a strip 10 which may be made or webbing with or without elastic interweaving, or leather or other suitable flexible material to allow a loop 11 to be formed in the strip, and this flexible strip is of alength so that when guided around the leg, as 12, of a person, in crosswise arrangement as shown in Fig. 1, the ends of the strip will be spaced from each other in depend ing fashion relative to the loop. 0n the ends of the flexible strip 10 are catches or clips, as andll, which may be of the well known rorms illustrated or of any preferred types adapted to detachably fasten the strip l0 to spaced parts of a stocking, as 15, when worn by a person.

In order to hold the end portions of the flexible strip 10 in crosswise movable engagement to form the loop 11 as well as to allow the loop to be enlarged and reduced in size, on one of the end portions of the strip, a flexible strap 16 is provided. This strap is preferably made of the same iraterial as the strip 10, and the strap has a strip like body part 17 of considerably greater length than the width of the strip 10. The body part 17 of the strap is arranged lengthwise upon one surface of the strip so as to be movable on the strip toward and from the catch provided on the adjaeent end of the strip, and at one end the body part of the strap is a loop 18, while at the second end of the body part is a second loop 19. These loops are preferably made of similar material to that of the body partor" the strap, and spaced parts of the end portion of the strip 10 upon which the strap is provided are movably disposed through the loops 18 and 19. T16 rexible strap 16 is therebyslidably adjustable on the strip, and the central portion of the body part 17 of the strap is also thereby spaced from the strip to provide a passage 20 between the strip 10 and the body part 1! of the strap 16. The second end portion of the strip 10 is passed through the passage 20 in crosswise fashion relative to the other end portion of the strip, and in turn the loop 11 is provided. By adjusting the strap 16 on the strip 10 accordingly the size of the loop may be regulated as oocasion requires, by forming the loops 18 and 19 of the strap of proper sizes the strap may be frictionelly held on the strip 10 against tenden y to accidental movement on the strip.

ion

In conjunction with the garter I may also employ a form of strap, or retainer, as 21 Fig. 4:, to allow the garter to be detachably fastened to a garment of the wearer. The retainer 21 preferably consists of a strip 22 of cloth, leather, or webbing having on one of its ends a well known form of slide, as 23, which ismovably arranged on the strip 22 to form a loop 24 through which part of the strip of the garter centrally of its loop 11 is movably guided. On the second end of the strip 22 of the retainer 21 is a commonly used form of snap catch or safety pin, as 25, and this catch pin is removably fastened to a suitable part of a garment of the wearer of the garter when it is desired to employ the retainer in association with the garter. Thus a simple and efiicient garter is provided adapted to be used by men, women and children for holding stockings in proper position when worn.

In the foregoing description, I have embodied the preferred form of my invention, but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, therefore I reserve to myself the right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a garter, a flexible flat strap disposed lengthwise upon a flexible strip having its ends adapted to be detachably fastened to the stocking ofa person, and loops on the ends of the strap through which the strip is disposed so that the strap may be moved back and forth between the ends of the strip.

2. The combination, in a garter, with a flexible strip having means whereby the ends of the strip may be detachably fastened to the stocking of a person, of aflexible flat strap disposed lengthwise upon the strip, said strap having spaced loops through which the strip is disposed so that the strap may be moved back and forth between the ends of the strip.

This specification signed and witnessed this aim day of July, A. D. 1919.

ROBERT W. MERRITT.

lVitnesses:

'D. Konrnn,

J. F REDERICK CRYER. 

